Unique presentation of a giant mediastinal tumor as kyphosis: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Although posture distortion is a common problem in elderly patients, spinal deformity caused by a thymoma has not been previously reported. Thymomas are slowly growing tumors that predominantly cause respiratory symptoms. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of an 83-year-old woman who was admitted with a giant mediastinal mass that had caused progressive spinal distortion and weight loss to our department. The clinical and laboratory investigations that followed revealed one of the largest thymomas ever reported in the medical literature, presenting as a mass lesion placed at the left hemithorax. She underwent complete surgical excision of the tumor via a median sternotomy. Two years after the operation, she showed significant improvement in her posture, no pulmonary discomfort, and a gain of 20 kg; she remains disease free based on radiographic investigations. CONCLUSIONS: In this case, a chronic asymmetric load on the spine resulted in an abnormal vertebral curvature deformity that presented as kyphosis.